On track for good health this season

Many people find first thing in the morning is the best time to fit daily exercise into their routines.

In the middle of summer when it is light from 5am, getting out of bed is not too tricky. But battling the cold and dark mornings of winter can be a different challenge.

According to HBF wellness manager Louise Atherton, exercising in winter is just as important as staying active in summer.

“All the benefits, like helping us feel good, more relaxed, sleep better and reducing our risk of long-term health problems, are all just as prevalent during the cooler months,” she said. “We all know it’s easy to overeat and allow a few extra kilos to creep on during winter — all that comfort food is tempting.

“Keeping up a regular exercise regime all year round will help keep us on track. The great thing is there are lots of indoor sports these days which can add a bit of variety and keeps things interesting.”

She said try something new this winter, such as indoor beach volleyball, squash or ballroom dancing.

“You might just find something you really enjoy that makes being active during winter more of a social outing rather than a chore,” Ms Atherton said.

There were lots of easy tricks people could use to get up and active, such as setting an upbeat music alarm.

“If kicking off the sheets and sitting up in bed is your biggest hurdle, try setting the alarm on your phone to a dance track you love and make waking up a ‘get up and dance’ habit,” she said.

“You can splash your face with water and pull on your sneakers to the tune too.”

Another good trick was to prepare an exercise kit the night before.

“That doesn’t means hours of preparation — it just means having your runners, a towel and water bottle ready and picking an outfit you’ll wear after your workout,” she said.

Often making plans to work out with someone else also provided good motivation because it was harder to ignore an alarm when someone else was expecting you to meet them, she said.

“Making a commitment to exercise with someone else or with a group is one of the best snooze-button killers. You can’t go back to sleep when you have someone, or a whole group, waiting for you.

“Likewise, make yourself accountable. Tell friends and family what your exercise plans are. It’s harder to skip a session when you know they will ask you how your morning workout went.”

Goal setting was also very important to maintaining your fitness regime over winter.

“Once you’ve got your wake-up routine down pat and you’ve got a team of family and friends in your corner keeping you accountable, the best thing you can do is set a goal and a plan to achieve it.” she said. “Ask yourself what you want to achieve and how often you want to exercise.

“Perhaps you want to run 4km in one go, because you’ve never run that distance before. As well as planning to run a few times per week, your plan to achieve that might include signing up for a fun run. You’ll feel an awesome sense of achievement when you stick to your plan and see progress.”

Cool weather opens up lots of winter sport opportunities but many summer-based sports and activities can also be adapted to the changing season.

“When you think about it, we can actually adapt most sports or activities and take them indoors,” Ms Atherton said.

“Think yoga in our living rooms, swimming in the comfort of a heated pool, or indoor cricket, soccer and trampolining — all very different activities but all able to be brought indoors and enjoyed in all weather conditions.”

She said the key was to find which activities were happening near where we live or work, making it easy to slot them into routines.

Local recreation centres and community groups were a good place to start looking for ideas.

“Sometimes it’s also a case of looking at our daily routines differently to find ways of being more active during winter. We might have overlooked some things we have access to during the warmer months,” she said.

“Perhaps there’s a gym at work, an empty room for doing squats and lunges, or even the stairs — why not do a few stairs during lunch?”

Ms Atherton said winter was also the time to be more mindful of the little things we could do when the weather was milder.

“Small things like getting off the bus early, parking further away from the shops and using the stairs instead of the lift all add up, especially if we try to do at least one of these every day.

“Any activity contributes to you being happy and healthy. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t tell you they felt better after exercising.

“Yes, you might feel a little sore a day or two after but immediately after you’ll be feeling great, with lots of endorphins flowing around your body.”

Being prepared helps - try this night-before routine:

Set your alarm tone to a dance track you love and make getting out of bed a “get up and dance” moment.

Have your water bottle filled in the fridge and a gym towel ready to go.

Confirm a meeting time and place with your workout buddy or at least tell someone your exercise plans for the morning — it’s great for accountability.

Sleep in comfortable exercise gear that you can get up and go in — all you’ll need to do in the morning is wash your face, brush your hair and pull on your joggers.

Hang your post-exercise clothes and toiletries by your front door, so you can grab them on the way out.

Pre-book and pay for a class — getting value for money is a pretty good incentive for most people.

5 top tips

Think outside the box for winter fitness. If it’s too cold or wet to exercise outside early in the morning or late at night, there are still ways to find small windows of time each day for exercise.

Consider taking a longer lunch break to fit in a workout. It may mean adjusting your start or finish times at work but once you find a routine that works and settle in to it, you’ll wonder why you never used your time so efficiently before.

Work out at home. There are lots of online training guides you can download. Try hbffitness.com.au.

DVDs or online videos are great to get your blood pumping and work up a sweat on a rainy day. They add variety to your fitness regime because there are lots to choose from, such as aerobics, body combat, yoga and Pilates.

Make a plan to exercise with someone else. You can’t go back to sleep when people are waiting for you.

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